


A Small Comfort

by remuszaneredvines



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a Good Boyfriend, Immediately post-ep043, M/M, Visitor hurt me, but not very angsty either, cecilos - Freeform, not very fluffy, spoilers for Episode 43: Visitor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-16 22:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1364650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remuszaneredvines/pseuds/remuszaneredvines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos thinks on the past, present, and future as he and Cecil wait for news, and decides to focus on just one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Small Comfort

Carlos rushed over to the animal hospital as soon as he heard what had happened to Khoshekh and Cecil at the station, instructing his team to look over his experiment while he went to check on his boyfriend (a phrase Carlos was pretty sure he would never tire of saying) and running out the lab door in a haze of worry.

He reached the animal hospital quickly and swung into the near-empty parking lot beside Cecil's car before making his way inside. He spotted Cecil right away, as much by his distinctive hair as his solitude in the waiting room, and took the seat to his left quietly as he waited for his boyfriend make the first move; Carlos knew he'd need to give Cecil some space to think after today's events. He assumed Cecil was doing just that, judging by the way his face was hidden by his hands. After a few moments, though, Cecil still hadn't acknowledged that he was there, and Carlos began to get a little worried. The scientist didn't want Cecil to wallow in his guilt, or sadness, or whatever this was all night, so he gently laid a hand on Cecil's shoulder, and said a bit awkwardly, "Hey, Cecil, er, how're you feeling?"

The radio host sitting beside Carlos sighed before looking up at him, emotion barely contained behind his eyes. Carlos saw immediately that he'd mistaken Cecil's dropped head for sadness; now that he could see the other man's face he could tell that it was most definitely anger. He visibly calmed himself before answering Carlos. 

"I can't believe this, Carlos. I just- I-" Cecil took a breath and started over. "I had no idea it could move so fast, or jump that high, or- Carlos, that _thing_ was supposed to be a _pet!_ That bloodthirsty machine that," and here his voice broke a bit, "that mauled my Khoshekh, a _pet?_ Pets are supposed to keep you company on bad days, and send you hidden messages outlining your impending doom, and make you feel like your existence is worth something because you've formed this bond with another living thing, not- not..."

"I know, Cecil," Carlos said after the other trailed off, seemingly lost in his thoughts again. A few moments passed before the radio host got a small smile on his face and huffed a tiny laugh.

"You know, I used to talk to him about you a lot, before we got together. Some people say pets can't understand when you talk to them, but I always felt like Khoshekh did. He'd always get this listening look on his face, you know? ...Sometimes I'd pet him and pretend it was your hair." Cecil's face took on the color of the blood cherry smoothie they used to serve at the White Sand, which is to say, very red. "I can't believe I told you that."

Carlos didn't quite know exactly how to respond to that, so he changed the subject. "You're talking like he's not going to make it. I thought you said on the show that the vet said he was going to be okay?"

"You didn't see him, Carlos. He looked- really bad. The teeth on that thing..."

"That reminds me, didn't you say it bit you on the leg?" asked Carlos, kicking himself for not remembering sooner.

"Oh, yes, it did. Intern Jeremy patched me up, though, and I'll be able bandage it up better once we get home," Cecil explained.

"Can I see?" Carlos asked. Cecil obliged, rolling up his pants leg and revealing a cloth-wrapped shin. The bandage was quickly done but looked pretty efficient, and Carlos silently sent his thanks to Intern Jeremy for bandaging Cecil up before he left for the animal hospital, since he probably would have sped over right after the show finished anyway, bleeding profusely from the leg or not. "Will you need to have it looked at?"

"Oh, no, this is nothing, really. I had worse than this while working for badges in Boy Scouts." Cecil said nonchalantly, rolling his pants leg back down and leaning back in his hard plastic chair.

"...Right."

They were silent for a few moments more, tense but together. Slowly, Cecil relaxed enough to lean over and put his head on Carlos's shoulder. Carlos took Cecil's hand as he sighed, so softly that the scientist wouldn't have been able to hear him had their faces not been so close. The clock on the wall ticked and tocked irregularly, and the two listened to it as they waited for any word from the veterinarian. Several minutes passed before either spoke again.

"Someone's going to pay for this, dear Carlos. I don't know who, but someone will," Cecil said. His voice was airy and foreboding at the same time, as only Cecil's voice could be, but Carlos knew how truly scared and angry Cecil was. He knew Cecil had been very close with Khoshekh, especially before he met Dana and made an actual human friend besides Earl Harlan, who was nearly always busy with his Scoutmaster duties. Carlos knew how rude he'd been to Cecil the first six months or so he'd lived in Night Vale, only using him for information and getting word out to the town about various dangers that no one besides him and his team seemed worried about. He hated to think about how lonely Cecil had been before he met Dana, with only Khoshekh and the ill-fated interns to talk to, how his best friend became too busy for him, how often Cecil doubted his own existence, especially when he was alone...

Carlos stopped himself on that train of thought, instead choosing to focus on his boyfriend's head on his shoulder, and Cecil's hand in his. He knew he had been rather aloof when he and Cecil first met, but he was doing much better now. What they had took work, as neither of them were quite used to being in a relationship, but god, did it pay off. 

And now he could feel Cecil shaking against his shoulder, and he gave the slender hand in his a squeeze, and Carlos resolved to focus on the present. You never knew when something would change drastically, especially in their insane town, and today was a perfect example. This was no time to focus on the past. He knew something big was coming, and that today's events were just one wave. _Present_ , he reminded himself, and remembered Cecil's hand in his. He didn't know anything he could say to reassure Cecil that wouldn't be at least a half-lie, so he just leaned his head on Cecil's, squeezed his hand once more, and hoped his presence could be at least a small comfort in the face of the approaching storm.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this just kept going downhill :\
> 
> Sorry for the title and run-ons, I'm not very good at either of those


End file.
